Does Using Virtual Reality to Enhance Students' Presentation Skills Work? The Role of Feedback and Presence

ABSTRACT Background Despite the recognised potential of Virtual Reality (VR) in education, the role of VR in enhancing presentation skills remains uncertain. Mixed findings, coupled with low adoption rates in educational settings, highlight the need to investigate how current VR applications are designed to facilitate effective learning outcomes for students. Objectives Grounded in constructivist and situated learning theories, which emphasise learning through active engagement and real‐world contexts, this study examines how specific VR design features, namely, feedback mechanisms (feedback awareness and feedback usefulness) and presence types (social and spatial presence), relate to student motivation and performance in presentations. Methods In a one‐group pre‐test‐post‐test field study, 285 university students participated in 30‐min individual VR training sessions focused on presentation skills refinement. Using structural equation modelling, this study assessed the relationships between feedback and presence elements with student motivation and performance outcomes. Results and Conclusions Analysis revealed that feedback awareness and social presence were positively associated with students' motivation to refine their presentation skills. Effective feedback mechanisms, particularly those that enhance feedback awareness and usefulness, were crucial for skill transfer, while increased social presence was associated with improved academic performance in the classroom. Conversely, spatial presence was unexpectedly negatively related to both motivation and performance, suggesting that how VR creates spatial elements may influence learning outcomes. By examining the nuances of these VR features, this study offers valuable insights for software developers and educators aiming to improve university students' presentation skills through VR training applications.